attention for a split second, then he turned away from her, busying himself with some bottles on a shelf. Another blink or two, and then he turned back. This time he was the same old Leo. Smiling, charming Leo.
My Leo.
Or was he?
Oh, get a grip, Brooke.
I mentally slapped myself. She really was attractive, and any guy would notice her. She had the angelic profile of a cameo, but her clingy black T-shirt scooped low in the front, and I could barely make out the hint of a tattoo on her collarbone, so although her features said angel, everything else about her said sexy badass. I glanced at Sudsy to find his skinny green cocktail straw dangling from his open mouth, even though his drink was nowhere near it.
See? Standard dude reaction. No matter how evolved we become as a species, a residual reptilian portion of a man’s brain could easily be triggered by an attractive female.
The truth is I asked you out to dinner that first time simply because you were beautiful, Leo had said to me. At the time, I’d found it flattering. Endearing, even. What if he thought the same of her?
Oh my God, Brooke! Seriously. Get a grip.
I observed surreptitiously as Leo got her a shot of Patrón. Naturally. She couldn’t order a dorky piña colada or some kind of froufrou drink, and I was tempted to go introduce myself. Not because I wanted to remind Leo that he’d just had sex with me not twelve hours ago, but because she was not our typical tourist. I was the mayor, after all. It was my job to make new visitors feel welcome.
We finished up our meeting, and the woman was still sitting at the bar. She and Leo seemed to be chatting, he’d gotten her a beer, and every now and again, he’d glance my way and give me a subtle smile. I smiled back, hoping my overreactive jealousy wasn’t like a neon sign over my head. She caught my eye once, too, so I smiled at her. She didn’t smile back.
Dmitri helped me gather up all the agendas that everyone had left on the table because no one read them anyway. It really was a waste of paper. He stacked them up and handed them to me as everybody shuffled out.
“What’s going on with you and the kid?” he whispered.
“What? Nothing.” I looked around, guilty as a teenager trying to sneak in after curfew.
“Liar. You’ve got a hickey on your neck.”
My hand flew to my throat. “Seriously?”
His laughter was a slow rumble under his breath. “No, not really, but if nothing is going on with you and the kid, then you would have known I was kidding.” Dmitri glanced over at Leo and then back at me. “We went fishing. Seems like a nice enough guy. Is he married?”
I restacked the papers in my hands. “Of course not. I mean, I didn’t ask specifically, but I’m sure he’s single. I’ve heard his whole life story, and there was no mention of a wife.”
“There never is.”
I looked up at Dmitri. His face was shadowed by his beekeeping hat. “You don’t think he’s married, do you? I couldn’t possibly make that same mistake twice.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “I don’t think he’s married. Just be careful. You bringing him to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow?”
My mind had been on the spin cycle lately and could not seem to grasp the reality that tomorrow was Thanksgiving. I hadn’t invited Leo to Gigi’s house for dinner, of course. It was way too early in our relationship, or whatever it was that we had. I couldn’t have him passing the mashed potatoes between my father and Gus, my grandmother’s lover. I couldn’t have him sitting there while we talked endlessly about wedding details with Emily and Ryan. And I couldn’t have him interrogated by Dmitri about his past indiscretions or his future intentions. “No, I didn’t invite him.”
“Maybe you should. What’s he going to do otherwise? Clancy’s is closed.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’ll work on his book?”
Dmitri shrugged and adjusted his hat. “Up to you, I guess. Just seems like it might be nice for the kid to have someplace to go.”
I stuffed the papers into my bag. “Why do you care if he has someplace to go?”
“I don’t, I guess . . . I just, you know. Wish you’d find a nice young man.”
His eyes were soft as he spoke, and I remembered why I cared for Dmitri so much. He